Tag / vancouver

Biking near Stanley Park, I stopped for a break and took a few shots of the beach on the south side of downtown. Surlac leans to on the metal contraption, or artwork, or whatever it may be called.

Near Stanley Park.

After this I grabbed some noodles, home made and totally awesome. While there I also had a tea while sitting outside, Surlac in the distance.

Outside for some noodles.

Next up I rode up on the Brurrard Bridge and got a shot of the shipping in the waterway.

Overlooking the shipping in the bay.

A little further along I found a giant bird!!

A giant bird!

Stopping on the Viaduct to get some pictures.

On the Viaduct, in the protected bikeway.

note, I am in the bikeway, where I’ve stopped and have set my bike in the picture. I’m stepping over into the pedestrian sidewalk on the bridge, and the cars go way over there beyond the concrete barriers. A TRULY separated bikeway. Vancouver might not have the bike culture in Portland, but it absolutely is working toward being as world class as Amsterdam is! It’s truly impressive what they’ve done in a mere 2-3 years! Vancouver is one of my favorite cities to visit in North America hands down.

Looking into the city from my first stop on the Viaduct I took a few shots, here’s one of the one’s that turned out pretty good. Completely unedited.

Translink Skytrain heading into downtown.

…and then another…

Translink Skytrains Passing…

…and looking the complete other way I saw two cyclists riding up with the Skytrain heading toward us in the background.

Like this:

Ok, so currently I’m staying with family in Vancouver, which provides a nightmare of a commute. I’m however determined to make it an adventure though. Today I’m heading downtown (Portland, not downtown Vancouver). The trip is a multi-transfer and long walking distance trip.

Segment One

The first part of the trip is about a half mile up and down hills. There is a sidewalk, which seems odd in Vancouver, as it seems nobody actually walks here. I see someone maybe every 1000ft. But then of course Vancouver has focused on car happiness and not people happiness, so it all makes sense.

Segment Two

I arrive at fourth plain after this walk/ride/bike up and down a 1/2 mile of hills to board the #4 to Delta Park. The #4 route is pleasant, at least so far. In the morning the bus appears to be clean with a well below half load of people. I counted 14 this morning. Strangely, there was also no traffic to cause delays crossing the great I-5 Bridge bottleneck either. So maybe it is a slow day?

Segment Three

Once I transferred to the Yellow Line MAX at Delta Park things immediately bumped up a notch. By the Rosa Parks Station Stop the MAX has no less than 82 people for the two car light rail train. By the next stop it had 106, which is a little low for a Monday, but sure beats the capacity a bus line could handle.

The day remained gorgeous with the sun shining and even slightly warm compared to previous days. Most were silent on the way in, which isn’t abnormal for the morning rush hours.

The Return Trip

The reverse trip was about the same thing. Easy, super quick transfer to the #4 C-Tran, and overall about 45 minutes between downtown and where I got off the bus in Vancouver.

Observations

95% of the riders of the #4 C-Tran are all going to the Yellow Line. Obviously there is significant ridership demand.

Considering ridership in a particular are usually goes up about a 1/3rd past equivalent bus service when light rail is put into place, the Vancouver Ridership would be that or more. Matter of fact, I’d bet a fifty on it.

If the #4 was BRT, and connected with light rail in downtown Vancouver (ya know, if they actually build the bridge monstrosity across the river), that would see at least a 5-10% increase in ridership over the current bus operations. It would have to be at least 10 minute frequencies. Having this 15 minute headway during peak hours isn’t going to help all that much even if reconfigured to BRT. Yes, I’d also put a 50 spot bet on this too.